Sirius's Fable
by yellow 14
Summary: After falling through the veil, Sirius Black finds himself in an unexpected situation. Written for The Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition Round 12


Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Fable. Unless you count the books/games.

AN: Written for The Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition Round 12 and my prompts are (phrase) now or never, (word) rush and (word) honest. The game I've chosen for this crossover is Fable and the wording borrowed from the game and the book is in **bold type**. Assuming Fanfiction doesn't mess it up. The start of this story is set during the battle at the end of book 5.

AN2: This idea was an old story I conceived a long time ago. This round brought it to the surface.

Sirius laughed as he ducked under a red jet of light thrown by his crazy cousin Bellatrix. It was amazing, a real relief after all this time cooped up and trapped in that God forsaken house. To finally be able to actually DO something instead of sitting around at Grimmauld Place, listening to plans that sent everyone else into danger but never him. Listening to Snivellus drop snide hints about his courage. Listening to that foul House Elf Kreacher and his mad mother. It was enough to drive a man insane.

" **Come on, you can do better than that!"** **he yelled, his voice echoing around the cavernous room.** He almost chuckled. She was getting angry, he could see it. His dear cousin could always be relied upon to do that. Well that and try to preserve the Black family line.

Another jet of red light flew at him and Sirius began to move out of the way. But it was a fraction of a second too late. Or maybe his cousin was getting better. Whatever the result, time slowed down. Everything seemed to move at a snails pace, moving one inch at a time. He could see the cracks in the floor, the arrival of Dumbledore, Harry supporting a fellow student.

And then the spell hit.

The funny thing was that it didn't hurt.

He expected it to. In fact, he was convinced it should have. But apart from a slight tingle, it just felt like nothing. He wasn't sure what was more suprising really. The fact that the spell didn't hurt or that Bellatrix was actually able to hit him. Death was always something that was going to happen to other people, not him.

Forward he fell and into the Veil, a silent and invisible splash into the unknown.

"Death is not your destiny Sirius Black," a strange woman's voice said in the grey depths. Sirius turned, desperately trying to locate the owner of the voice and found only grey. It was as though the whole world was nothing but that.

"Who are you?" he called out loud. "Who are you and where am I?"

"Death is not your destiny Sirius Black. At least, not today," the voice simply said once more and Sirius tried to grope about for his now absent wand. If he wasn't dead, then he had to get back. He had to be there for Harry, like he promised all those years ago to James and Lily. He could hardly afford to be distracted.

"I have to go back!" he yelled into the grey, hoping that whoever the voice was, they would have some kind of mercy and help him in some way.

"There is no way back. Nothing you can do to return. Sirius Black is dead to the world of Harry Potter and his friends."

"What do you mean dead?" he yelled angrily at the voice. "You keep saying that death is not my destiny! How can I be dead to them if I am not dead?"

"I do not choose the lines of fate, I merely observe and guide. There is only one way for you to go, not two. You cannot go back. Would you rather spend an eternity in this limbo?" the woman asked, remaining infuriatingly calm despite his harsh words.

"You waste your time old woman," a bored young mans voice cut in. "He's just another predictable hero. Dull and unpredictable and all too replaceable. He would rather sit forever in this place than be of any real use, forever bemoaning his failings."

Sirius balled up his hands angrily, wishing for one moment that he could see the owners of the voices. The young man in particular reminded him all to strongly of Snape and it ran up his nerves.

"Be _honest_ with yourself hero. Are you thinking about Harry or are you blaming yourself still for the deaths of his parents? Are you fighting for him or fighting because you seek some sort of penance for failing your best friend?"

"SHUT UP!" Sirius screamed into the grey. "SHUT UP! YOU HAVE NO IDEA!"

"Pathetic. He will never amount to anything more than a mere pawn," the man said contemptuously.

"I still have hope," the woman replied in that still calm. "You can be a hero Sirius, or you can sit and bemoan your fate betwixt this world and the next. Which is it to be? There are those who will need you just as much as Harry and James and Lily ever did, if not more so. So choose wisely. Was the Outsider right? Would you rather stay here and be the predictable child or would you take a second chance to do something important? Make a choice Sirius Black, make a choice."

Sirius licked his lips. On one side was the prospect of spending an eternity in this grey…void for want of a better word. It was tempting really. He could try finding his way back out the way he came or maybe someone would find him. At the very least, he could try.

On the other side of the coin was the opportunity to make a difference. To help someone who needed his help. He might even have better luck finding his way back home. And if he was honest with himself, the Ministry was unlikely to push itself very hard to bring him back. He was an embarrassment, a stain on their 'reputation'. Alive, he represented a difficult reminder of their failings. Dead, he was just a convenient hero.

Sirius licked his lips and made a choice. It was _now or never_ really. He could spend an eternity in here, going mad in the endless grey or he could make that step. Before he could change his mind, he reached forward and said out loud.

"I'm willing to try help," he said and he heard an amused chuckle.

"You're not as dull as you first seemed," the Outsider said with a hint of amusement. "Perhaps I was wrong about you. This should be interesting to watch."

"Thank you Sirius," the old woman said as a wrinkled old hand took his. "And now, your story begins anew."

There was a brief tug as the hand pulled him forward with a surprising amount of strength. After a momentary calm, suddenly the world began to _rush_ by and Sirius felt his body begin a very familiar transformation.

There was a flash (at least, he was pretty sure he saw a flash, even if nobody else appeared to.) and Sirius landed on a hard, icy road.

As he lay there, a rough gloved hand grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and abruptly dragged him into a street corner of what looked like a slum.

"Come 'ere poochie," the owner of the hand said and Sirius mentally winced. "I'm bored, so we're gonna 'ave a bit o fun."

Sirius tried to growl, but he barely managed a whimper. There was a sudden sharp pain as the gloved hand smacked him across the face. Sirius looked up to the owner of the hand to see a boy of thirteen or fourteen with a nasty expression on his face and ragged, messy clothing. Behind the boy, a crowd of younger children were gathering and watching. From somewhere further back, he could here more children running towards them.

" **Rex's caught a dog an he's gonna kick the crap out of it!"** he heard one of the approaching children shout and Sirius decided that enough was enough. Summoning his concentration, he began to change back into a human. What a shock this kid would have when his intended victim wasn't as helpless as he wanted him to be.

Or rather, he tried to change back into a human. For some reason, it wasn't working. Instead of the familiar feeling of his paws becoming hands and feet, they remained stubbornly paws.

Smack!

Sirius felt his jaw shudder under another attack by the thuggish Rex.

" **Aww, what's the matter poochie? Does it hurt?"** Rex asked mockingly. He was clearly enjoying himself. It reminded him very strongly of his cousin Bellatrix and her own penchant for other people's pain.

Suddenly, a girl wearing red and pigtails in her hair stepped forward and faced Rex.

" **Hey, what the hell are you doing?"** she demanded angrily, glaring at Rex. Rex merely glared back.

" **Havin a bit o fun. What's it to you?"** he demanded and he promptly headbutted the girl so hard she was knocked to the floor.

" **He hit a girl!"** a member of the crowd said and Rex smirked as he turned to face the younger brother or sister of the girl.

 **Yeah, an now I'm gonna hit another,"** he said and he swung his fist at the younger child.

The younger child however responded quickly, ducking under Rex's punch and smacked a wooden toy sword into Rex's nose. Rex howled in pain and blood began to stream from his now broken nose.

He tried to punch the younger child once more and once more the younger child avoided the punch to hit him hard with their toy sword.

 **Oww, leave me alone you nutter!"** Rex cried out as he ran away. It was almost as though HE was the one being bullied and not the one doing the bullying. It was almost enough for Sirius to feel sorry for him. Well…almost at any rate.

The older girl rose to her feet and began talking to her younger sibling and then to Sirius. Words of comfort and sympathy, but Sirius felt his attention wandering as a now familiar voice talked to him.

"These are the people you must help. The younger child, Sparrow, has a great destiny ahead and it is up to you to help them achieve that end. It is vital for the future of not just yourself and the child, but of all those around you and all of Albion."

"All of Albion. What's Albion?" Sirius asked and suddenly Sirius found himself floating into the air and leaving his body behind. Suddenly he found himself overlooking an entire country, green and pleasant to the eye and rich in farmland.

"This is Albion. It's people are good and bad, kind and cruel, clever and stupid. But none of them deserve to be destroyed and have their lives turned upside-down and inside out to satisfy one man's selfish dream. Now go," the old woman said, still invisible to Sirius.

He floated to the ground and returned to his body. Looking up, he saw that the two girls had gone to Merlin knows where. Raising his nose, he gently sniffed the air and set off on a journey that would forever change Albion and the world forever.

AN: I borrowed the Outsider from the game series Dishonoured, but the main focus of this has been firmly between Harry Potter and Fable II.


End file.
